· 2018-03-14 · the Fonz. There's also a brilliant Harley-Davidson Museum Ð the motorbike is...
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the times Saturday July 15 2017 34 Travel Downtown Chicago Road trip around Lake Michigan Four states, 900 miles and plenty of adventures — from the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago to sleepy towns in Michigan and the wilds of Wisconsin. Tom Chesshyre hits the highways United States hot dogs and root beer to drivers who place orders via a speaker system after pulling into parking bays. It dates from the 1950s and there used to be 600 in the country; now there are about a dozen. Its motto is: “Where everything’s so dog-gone good.” I place my order for a “World Famous” Coney Dog and a root beer. Five minutes later a waitress dressed in red and yellow arrives and attaches a tray to the car window. “We used to do this on roller- skates,” she says. The hot dog and the root beer are delicious (not bad for five bucks). I’m staying overnight in Traverse City, an hour farther up the coast. Before getting there, however, the landscape changes. Thick forest emerges. A dead deer lies in the road. A roadside sign asks: “Where are you going? Heaven or hell?” Pick-up trucks are everywhere and the local radio station starts playing ZZ Top hits, as well as patriotic folk songs with the refrains such as: “We’re in America now.” We certainly are — and in a very certain type of America. Michigan and Wisconsin, which is soon to come, switched from Democrat to Republican at the most recent presidential election. It all feels a far cry from Illinois, where almost a million more people voted for Hillary Clinton than for Donald Trump. Yet Traverse City turns out to be an arty oasis amid all the pick-up trucks with gun boxes. Chilled-out cafés, pleasant restau- rants and bars selling craft beers line Main Street. A delightful old-fashioned movie theatre has been restored by enthusiasts, including the left-wing documentary maker Michael Moore (he’s from Michi- gan, although definitely not a Trump voter). It’s a lovely old town and a perfect base for exploring the enormous and quite spectacular nearby Sleeping Bear Dunes — once voted the most beautiful place in the country by viewers of Good Morning America — as well as the tranquil fishing village of Leland, with its restored 19th- century fish shanties. And then it’s onwards to Mackinac Island. Mackinac is a must-visit on any driving tour of Lake Michigan, found on a O n a boat on Chicago River, the Windy City is more than living up to its nickname. Kevin, the guide for our architec- tural tour, is clutching his umbrella as rain sweeps across the deck. Despite the great gusts, he maintains his commentary, telling us about the Corn Cobs (twin skyscrapers), the Willis Tower (once the world’s tallest building at 442m) and Rainier Tower (a remarkable structure with a base resem- bling an inverted pyramid). Huddled beneath an awning, we watch as the boat putters past art deco delights and the shiny mirrored glass of Trump Tower — the pres- ident’s name inscribed in giant letters on the façade — seeing America’s third biggest metropolis from the river that determined its location. By the time we return to the bustle of cafés and hot dog stalls on Navy Pier on Lake Michigan, we’ve enjoyed an intriguing insight into Chicago’s famous high-rises, while Kevin is soaked and his umbrella a crumpled wreck. So begins my adventure, starting with a couple of days in Chicago before embark- ing on one of the greatest road trips Amer- ica has to offer . . . although few outsiders have heard of, or considered, the route. I’m about to head off on a circular tour of Lake Michigan, travelling through four states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin), covering more than 900 miles and passing through some of the country’s most picturesque scenery. You can obvi- ously go either way round, but I’ve chosen the anti-clockwise option, hiring a car from a depot right by Trump Tower. With new Wow air flights from the UK, via Reykjavik in Iceland, starting this month from £358 return, and with Norwe- gian starting direct flights next spring, Chicago and its environs, America’s very own lake district, are attracting Britons who might previously have made a beeline for the skyscrapers and Broadway shows of New York. And what better way to see the region than on the Lake Michigan Cir- cle Tour, which takes about a fortnight. It Tom Chesshyre was a guest of Choose Chicago (choosechicago.com) and flew with American Airlines (aa.com), which has Chicago returns from £572. Hertz.co.uk has a fortnight’s car hire from £510. In Chicago, Swissôtel (swissotel.com/ chicago) has double rooms from about $186 (£147), or try the Guesthouse Hotel (www.theguesthousehotel. com), a cool boutique hotel; doubles from about $190. In Traverse City, Bayshore Resort (bayshore-resort.com) has B&B double rooms from $250. On Mackinac Island, the Chippewa Hotel (chippewahotel. com) has doubles from $110. In Curtis, Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn (chamberlinsinn.com) has cosy double rooms from $90. In Green Bay, the Hyatt Regency (greenbay.regency.hyatt. com) has large double rooms from $99. In Milwaukee, the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel (journeymanhotel.com) is a hip boutique hotel with rooms from $239. even has its own website to plan your jour- ney (lakemichigancircletour.com). After marvelling over the masterpieces in the Art Institute of Chicago, watching a Cubs baseball game and sampling some of the city’s best deep-pan pizza (at Lou Mal- nati’s on North State Street), I go to collect my Hyundai Elantra. It’s shiny, royal-blue and rather natty. I slip the key in the igni- tion and pull out into the tunnel-like streets amid the skyscrapers with a sense of anticipation for the journey ahead. Just a few minutes later I hit Interstate 94, heading east through the industrial outskirts of Chicago amid a steady flow of trucks, enjoying the liberating feeling of taking to the road in the US. The I94 is a big four-laner, easy to follow, and the Hyundai purrs along nicely. After about an hour the highway crosses into Indiana, where I stop in the city of Gary. Not many people go to Gary, Indi- ana, on holiday. It has a dilapidated, before pausing at the lakeside town of St Joseph, with its large sandy beach, carou- sel and shops selling collectibles. The joy of driving the eastern shore of Lake Michigan — the world’s fifth largest lake and the biggest entirely within Amer- ica’s borders — is calling in at places such as St Joseph, a long-time favourite with Chicagoans seeking R&R. The Victorian- era streets are quiet on my visit, though, and it’s a pleasure to sit on a bench, soaking up sunshine in sleepy, small-town USA. On the outskirts of St Joseph I pass the worldwide HQ of Whirlpool, the home appliances company, and continue along the coast, pulling up at a collectibles fair in Grand Haven. Flea markets seem to be the rage in these parts, and this one is especially well-stocked. All sorts of Americana is on offer: old cowboy boots, 1960s Coke and Pepsi adverts, vintage Budweiser mirrors, plates featuring portraits of former presi- dents, great piles of baseball cards. Unable to resist buying an amusing orig- inal Schlitz beer advert from the 1940s pro- moting revolutionary new “pop top” cans — “The whole country’s poppin’ this new top!” — I drive on. But not for long. About half an hour north I stop for yet another blast of America as it once was. Dog n Suds is a “carhop” chain serving I slip the key in the ignition and pull out into the tunnel-like streets amid the skyscrapers Need to know impoverished look, with half-collapsed buildings, boarded-up shops, Norman Bates-style motels and a handful of Baptist churches. It also happens to be home to the little-visited birthplace of the “king of pop”, Michael Jackson. Along Jackson Street, naturally, I come to the small whitewashed clapboard house — beautifully main- tained, unlike many neighbouring proper- ties, and behind a metal fence with a stone memorial to the troubled singer. For those interested in Jackson’s inaus- picious roots, it’s worth the detour, but there’s no time for dilly-dallying. Back on the highway, I cross into Michigan and fol- low a pretty section by the waterfront CANADA IL IN OH MI WI Chicago Gary St Joseph Traverse City Curtis Mackinac Island Green Bay Milwaukee 100 miles Lake Michig an Door Peninsula the times Saturday July 15 2017 Travel 35 My drive takes me round the top of the lake into Wisconsin. I pause for lunch at a gas station at Cedar River where bumper stickers with messages are sold: “Prayer is the best way to meet the Lord. Trespassing is faster.” And: “Baiting deer is illegal. This corn pile is intended for squirrels. Any deer found eating this will be shot.” Afterwards, I stop for a night in Green Bay, home of the American football team the Green Bay Packers. The city is Packers- mad. I do what everyone does and go to see their enormous, amazing home stadium, before checking out the locomotives at the excellent National Railroad Museum. Then I reach Milwaukee. What an inter- esting place. This working-class city, which became home to many German immigrants in the 19th century, has long been a centre for brewing — MillerCoors is based here and there are loads of micro- breweries. Happy Days was filmed in Milwaukee; there’s a downtown bronze of the Fonz. There’s also a brilliant Harley- Davidson Museum — the motorbike is manufactured here — the Milwaukee Art Museum and an upbeat atmosphere; many millennials who cannot afford to live in Chicago are moving in. All that’s left from here is the drive to Chicago, via my first traffic jam on a fly- over. It feels as though I’m coming home as I drop off my car by Chicago River and go for a final pizza at Lou Malnati’s, just round the corner from the Magnificent Mile of upmarket shops. For a taste of so many dif- ferent aspects of America — a slice of modern-day USA, if you like — hit the highways round Lake Michigan. It’s an ad- venture . . . and it’s also a wonderful drive. Pot-bellied guys with baseball caps and straw hats line the bar on ‘Taco Tuesday’ smiling faintly as she does. I seem to have been — just about — accepted. Later I talk to a local man who asks not to be named and who describes his politics as liberal. “When I came here I couldn’t get anyone to service my Toyota because it’s not American,” he says. “I put up an Ob- ama election sign two elections ago and now I’m still nicknamed ‘Obama’.” He adds that if he is talking politics to a like-minded person in the post office and anyone else walks in, they have to change the subject to fishing. This really is Trump-land. Lighthouse on the north pier at St Joseph strait that connects to Lake Huron. No cars are allowed, so you must park and catch a ferry, landing at a dock by a row of Victorian buildings dominated by the massive hillside Grand Hotel. The island is famous for its history (it was captured by the British in 1812), its many bars, its horse- drawn carriages, its biennial Republican Party leadership conference (held at the Grand, which has an extraordinary 200m porch) and its fudge. You can’t avoid the latter, which is sold in shops by the dock. After an enjoyable night out accompa- nied by the manager of my hotel (the Chip- pewa) and his friend Megan, I walk around the island in the morning — a very pleas- ant, peaceful and car-less eight miles. Then I hit the road to “UP”. This stands for Upper Peninsula, which is still in Michi- gan. People from UP are known as “Yoop- ers” and they have a reputation for doing things their own way. They’re also known to be suspicious of outsiders, and as I roll into the little town of Curtis, with its couple of grocery stores and single bar, the Shipwreck Inn, I sense eyes upon me. I’m just about the only person not driving a pick-up and I stick out like a sore thumb. This is where I’m staying the night, at a creaky little hotel on the edge of town (population 400). After dropping off my bag I go to eat at the Shipwreck Inn. Pot- bellied guys with baseball caps and straw cowboy hats line the bar along with a handful of women drinking Bud Lights. Their voices drop when I pass (although I catch a snatch of conversation that in- cludes “those sons of bitches”). It is “Taco Tuesday”. A waitress in a tight pink T-shirt delivers a tasty plateful, along with a beer, SUSANNE KREME/4CORNERS IMAGES
Transcript of · 2018-03-14 · the Fonz. There's also a brilliant Harley-Davidson Museum Ð the motorbike is...
the times Saturday July 15 2017
34 Travel
Downtown Chicago
Road trip around Lake MichiganFour states, 900 miles and plenty of adventures — from the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago to sleepy towns in Michigan and the wilds of Wisconsin. Tom Chesshyre hits the highways
United States
hot dogs and root beer to drivers who placeorders via a speaker system after pullinginto parking bays. It dates from the 1950sand there used to be 600 in the country;now there are about a dozen. Its motto is:“Where everything’s so dog-gone good.”
I place my order for a “World Famous”Coney Dog and a root beer. Five minuteslater a waitress dressed in red and yellowarrives and attaches a tray to the carwindow. “We used to do this on roller-skates,” she says. The hot dog and the rootbeer are delicious (not bad for five bucks).
I’m staying overnight in Traverse City,an hour farther up the coast. Beforegetting there, however, the landscapechanges. Thick forest emerges. A deaddeer lies in the road. A roadside sign asks:“Where are you going? Heaven or hell?”Pick-up trucks are everywhere and thelocal radio station starts playing ZZ Tophits, as well as patriotic folk songs with therefrains such as: “We’re in America now.”
We certainly are — and in a very certaintype of America. Michigan and Wisconsin,which is soon to come, switched fromDemocrat to Republican at the mostrecent presidential election. It all feels a farcry from Illinois, where almost a millionmore people voted for Hillary Clintonthan for Donald Trump.
Yet Traverse City turns out to be an artyoasis amid all the pick-up trucks with gunboxes. Chilled-out cafés, pleasant restau-rants and bars selling craft beers line MainStreet. A delightful old-fashioned movietheatre has been restored by enthusiasts,including the left-wing documentarymaker Michael Moore (he’s from Michi-gan, although definitely not a Trumpvoter). It’s a lovely old town and a perfectbase for exploring the enormous and quitespectacular nearby Sleeping Bear Dunes— once voted the most beautiful place inthe country by viewers of Good MorningAmerica — as well as the tranquil fishingvillage of Leland, with its restored 19th-century fish shanties.
And then it’s onwards to MackinacIsland. Mackinac is a must-visit on anydriving tour of Lake Michigan, found on a
On a boat on ChicagoRiver, the Windy Cityis more than living upto its nickname. Kevin,the guide for our architec-tural tour, is clutching hisumbrella as rain sweeps
across the deck. Despite the great gusts, hemaintains his commentary, telling usabout the Corn Cobs (twin skyscrapers),the Willis Tower (once the world’s tallestbuilding at 442m) and Rainier Tower (aremarkable structure with a base resem-bling an inverted pyramid). Huddledbeneath an awning, we watch as the boatputters past art deco delights and the shinymirrored glass of Trump Tower — the pres-ident’s name inscribed in giant letters onthe façade — seeing America’s third biggestmetropolis from the river that determinedits location. By the time we return to thebustle of cafés and hot dog stalls on NavyPier on Lake Michigan, we’ve enjoyed anintriguing insight into Chicago’s famoushigh-rises, while Kevin is soaked and hisumbrella a crumpled wreck.
So begins my adventure, starting with acouple of days in Chicago before embark-ing on one of the greatest road trips Amer-ica has to offer . . . although few outsidershave heard of, or considered, the route.
I’m about to head off on a circular tourof Lake Michigan, travelling through fourstates (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan andWisconsin), covering more than 900 milesand passing through some of the country’smost picturesque scenery. You can obvi-ously go either way round, but I’ve chosenthe anti-clockwise option, hiring a carfrom a depot right by Trump Tower.
With new Wow air flights from the UK,via Reykjavik in Iceland, starting thismonth from £358 return, and with Norwe-gian starting direct flights next spring,Chicago and its environs, America’s veryown lake district, are attracting Britonswho might previously have made a beelinefor the skyscrapers and Broadway showsof New York. And what better way to seethe region than on the Lake Michigan Cir-cle Tour, which takes about a fortnight. It
Tom Chesshyre was a guest of Choose Chicago (choosechicago.com) and flew with American Airlines (aa.com), which has Chicago returns from £572. Hertz.co.uk has a fortnight’s car hire from £510. In Chicago, Swissôtel (swissotel.com/chicago) has double rooms from about $186 (£147), or try the Guesthouse Hotel (www.theguesthousehotel.com), a cool boutique hotel; doubles from about $190. In Traverse City, Bayshore Resort (bayshore-resort.com) has B&B double rooms from $250. On Mackinac Island, the Chippewa Hotel (chippewahotel.com) has doublesfrom $110. In Curtis, Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn (chamberlinsinn.com) has cosy double rooms from $90. In Green Bay, the Hyatt Regency (greenbay.regency.hyatt.com) has large double rooms from $99. In Milwaukee, the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel (journeymanhotel.com) is a hip boutique hotel with rooms from $239.
even has its own website to plan your jour-ney (lakemichigancircletour.com).
After marvelling over the masterpiecesin the Art Institute of Chicago, watching aCubs baseball game and sampling some ofthe city’s best deep-pan pizza (at Lou Mal-nati’s on North State Street), I go to collectmy Hyundai Elantra. It’s shiny, royal-blueand rather natty. I slip the key in the igni-tion and pull out into the tunnel-likestreets amid the skyscrapers with a senseof anticipation for the journey ahead.
Just a few minutes later I hit Interstate94, heading east through the industrialoutskirts of Chicago amid a steady flow oftrucks, enjoying the liberating feeling oftaking to the road in the US. The I94 is abig four-laner, easy to follow, and theHyundai purrs along nicely.
After about an hour the highway crossesinto Indiana, where I stop in the city ofGary. Not many people go to Gary, Indi-ana, on holiday. It has a dilapidated,
before pausing at the lakeside town of StJoseph, with its large sandy beach, carou-sel and shops selling collectibles.
The joy of driving the eastern shore ofLake Michigan — the world’s fifth largestlake and the biggest entirely within Amer-ica’s borders — is calling in at places suchas St Joseph, a long-time favourite withChicagoans seeking R&R. The Victorian-era streets are quiet on my visit, though,and it’s a pleasure to sit on a bench, soakingup sunshine in sleepy, small-town USA.
On the outskirts of St Joseph I pass theworldwide HQ of Whirlpool, the homeappliances company, and continue alongthe coast, pulling up at a collectibles fair inGrand Haven. Flea markets seem to be therage in these parts, and this one is especiallywell-stocked. All sorts of Americana is onoffer: old cowboy boots, 1960s Coke andPepsi adverts, vintage Budweiser mirrors,plates featuring portraits of former presi-dents, great piles of baseball cards.
Unable to resist buying an amusing orig-inal Schlitz beer advert from the 1940s pro-moting revolutionary new “pop top” cans— “The whole country’s poppin’ this newtop!” — I drive on. But not for long. Abouthalf an hour north I stop for yet anotherblast of America as it once was.
Dog n Suds is a “carhop” chain serving
I slip the key in the ignition and pull out into the tunnel-like streets amid the skyscrapers
Need to know
impoverished look, with half-collapsedbuildings, boarded-up shops, NormanBates-style motels and a handful of Baptistchurches. It also happens to be home to thelittle-visited birthplace of the “king of pop”,Michael Jackson. Along Jackson Street,naturally, I come to the small whitewashedclapboard house — beautifully main-tained, unlike many neighbouring proper-ties, and behind a metal fence with a stonememorial to the troubled singer.
For those interested in Jackson’s inaus-picious roots, it’s worth the detour, butthere’s no time for dilly-dallying. Back onthe highway, I cross into Michigan and fol-low a pretty section by the waterfront
CANADA
IL IN OH
MI
WI
Chicago
Gary
St Joseph
Traverse City
CurtisMackinacIsland
Green Bay
Milwaukee
100 miles
Lake
Mic
higa
n
Door Peninsula
the times Saturday July 15 2017
Travel 35
My drive takes me round the top of thelake into Wisconsin. I pause for lunch at agas station at Cedar River where bumperstickers with messages are sold: “Prayer isthe best way to meet the Lord. Trespassingis faster.” And: “Baiting deer is illegal. Thiscorn pile is intended for squirrels. Any deerfound eating this will be shot.”
Afterwards, I stop for a night in GreenBay, home of the American football teamthe Green Bay Packers. The city is Packers-mad. I do what everyone does and go to seetheir enormous, amazing home stadium,before checking out the locomotives at theexcellent National Railroad Museum.
Then I reach Milwaukee. What an inter-esting place. This working-class city,which became home to many Germanimmigrants in the 19th century, has longbeen a centre for brewing — MillerCoorsis based here and there are loads of micro-breweries. Happy Days was filmed inMilwaukee; there’s a downtown bronze ofthe Fonz. There’s also a brilliant Harley-Davidson Museum — the motorbike ismanufactured here — the Milwaukee ArtMuseum and an upbeat atmosphere;many millennials who cannot afford to livein Chicago are moving in.
All that’s left from here is the drive toChicago, via my first traffic jam on a fly-over. It feels as though I’m coming home asI drop off my car by Chicago River and gofor a final pizza at Lou Malnati’s, just roundthe corner from the Magnificent Mile ofupmarket shops. For a taste of so many dif-ferent aspects of America — a slice ofmodern-day USA, if you like — hit thehighways round Lake Michigan. It’s an ad-venture . . . and it’s also a wonderful drive.
Pot-bellied guys with baseball caps andstraw hats line the bar on ‘Taco Tuesday’
smiling faintly as she does. I seem to havebeen — just about — accepted.
Later I talk to a local man who asks notto be named and who describes his politicsas liberal. “When I came here I couldn’t getanyone to service my Toyota because it’snot American,” he says. “I put up an Ob-ama election sign two elections ago andnow I’m still nicknamed ‘Obama’.” He addsthat if he is talking politics to a like-mindedperson in the post office and anyone elsewalks in, they have to change the subject tofishing. This really is Trump-land.
Lighthouse on the north pier at St Joseph
strait that connects to Lake Huron. Nocars are allowed, so you must park andcatch a ferry, landing at a dock by a row ofVictorian buildings dominated by themassive hillside Grand Hotel. The island isfamous for its history (it was captured bythe British in 1812), its many bars, its horse-drawn carriages, its biennial RepublicanParty leadership conference (held at theGrand, which has an extraordinary 200mporch) and its fudge. You can’t avoid thelatter, which is sold in shops by the dock.
After an enjoyable night out accompa-nied by the manager of my hotel (the Chip-pewa) and his friend Megan, I walk aroundthe island in the morning — a very pleas-ant, peaceful and car-less eight miles.Then I hit the road to “UP”. This stands forUpper Peninsula, which is still in Michi-gan. People from UP are known as “Yoop-ers” and they have a reputation for doingthings their own way. They’re also knownto be suspicious of outsiders, and as I rollinto the little town of Curtis, with itscouple of grocery stores and single bar, theShipwreck Inn, I sense eyes upon me. I’mjust about the only person not driving apick-up and I stick out like a sore thumb.
This is where I’m staying the night, at acreaky little hotel on the edge of town(population 400). After dropping off mybag I go to eat at the Shipwreck Inn. Pot-bellied guys with baseball caps and strawcowboy hats line the bar along with ahandful of women drinking Bud Lights.Their voices drop when I pass (although Icatch a snatch of conversation that in-cludes “those sons of bitches”). It is “TacoTuesday”. A waitress in a tight pink T-shirtdelivers a tasty plateful, along with a beer,
SUSANNE KREME/4CORNERS IMAGES
